66 Drug Runners, 4 Burglars Hanged in Iranian Crackdown
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NICOSIA, Cyprus — Sixty-six drug smugglers and four burglars have been hanged in Tehran and 19 other cities, state radio reported.
The executions last week bring the total number of reported executions of drug smugglers in recent months to 379.
The Tehran radio broadcast, monitored in Nicosia, said 17 of the smugglers were hanged in the capital.
Several of those executed were also convicted of armed resistance, gun smuggling, “mischief, creating panic and involvement in murder,” the radio said.
Authorities also confiscated 18,935 pounds of opium, 1,757 pounds of heroin and 16,440 pounds of morphine from the smugglers, the radio reported.
A Draconian new law that took effect Jan. 21 carries the death sentence for possession of even small quantities of drugs.
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